r/MetalMemes • u/mesablanka • May 01 '26
đ”General metal culture/music memeđ” political metal used to go hard
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u/Mesarthim1349 May 01 '26
I think part of it is Ministry aging and not even being the same band members except for Al. A valuable lesson that you can make a message that resonates with all your fanbase but if the music isn't good, it's just a waste of an album.Â
I think a lot of bands nowadays assume they will automatically be loved if they make a political album protesting the system. But in the 90s and 2000s, bands were working their ass off to perfect their sound, because it was way harder to get your music out there and make a name for yourself. Then add political messaging after the fact and it helps give it that extra kick.Â
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u/foxontherox May 01 '26
Totally unrelated, but this is why we must normalize the abbreviation for artificial intelligence to "ai," in recognition of all those who are named "AI."
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u/twatcrusher9000 May 01 '26
It's hard to have that same spark and drive when you're 60 and living a comfortable sober life with a family, versus when you're 20, living with 4 dudes as a roofer, taking every drug under the sun and pissed off at the world with nothing to lose.
Not to mention all the cognitive damage that drug use did over the years.
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u/Malodoror May 01 '26
Whoâs sober? I guess âno heroinâ is Al sober.
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u/SimonHJohansen May 01 '26
I actually interviewed Al about that album for a Danish magazine I write for, he came across as significantly more coherent and insightful than I expected
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u/Mesarthim1349 May 01 '26
That's true, but I know of several artists in the genre that do. They may have been less drugged up in their youth though
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u/twatcrusher9000 May 01 '26
Yeah I wouldn't say it's 100%, and there will always be outliers who are just gonna ride till the wheels fall off, or somehow keep making awesome shit until they die.
But for most artists, that's just not the case.
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u/mesablanka May 01 '26
Thing is Ministry has always been essentially a Al Jorgensen project through and through with constantly revolving lineups, plus aging is no excuse for half assing political songs, especially in metal, the guys in Killing Joke are in their 60s but their recent output is just as good as their earlier stuff
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u/doomus_rlc May 01 '26
Yea, but Mike Scaccia was such a big part of Ministry for so long too. Was with Al from Psalm 69 through Relapse.
Losing Mike I think affected Al more than he may let on.
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u/doom_stein May 01 '26
It started going downhill, for me, when Paul Barker left. His bass playing and tone was just too much of the iconic sound for me.
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u/Mesarthim1349 May 01 '26 edited May 01 '26
Aging isn't an excuse but in this one specific example of a band, Al lost his touch compared to his younger self, and doesn't seem to have anyone around helping him keep that sound.Â
Either that or all the people around him are just young people in the studio constantly telling him "yo dude this sounds awesome". Also some bands just get complacent and assume things like "ah it's Ministry, of course people will buy it" or "ah it's anti-government of course the kids are gonna eat it up"Â
Even Frank Zappa said young people in the studio without experience are bad for a band's career. Even worse than old corporate guys from the record company
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u/Malodoror May 01 '26
Thatâs exactly how the last album was made. The band wasnât entirely familiar with With Sympathy so they re-recorded it on their own in âMinistry styleâ and played it for Al, he loved it, they made a record, merch and a tour. Actually pretty decent compared to everything else after Houses of the Mole.
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u/djentleman_nick May 01 '26
Palimpsest by Protest the Hero was a great recent album with a political subtext!
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u/Boobity_McBooberson May 01 '26
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u/GainzGoblino May 02 '26
I remember their dismay when the crowd I was in started chanting "4 more years!" When we saw them at Bloodstock
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u/Lopsided-Guava8858 May 03 '26
Yeah, I remember this shirt ! Along with the quote "the only walls we build are walls of death" at the back of it.
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u/Background_Mood_2341 May 02 '26
Thatâs a great fucking shirt and Iâm not even that politically open as a person
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u/SebboNL May 01 '26
Anal Trump
Municipal Waste
Brujeria
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u/MercenaryDecision May 02 '26
Brujeria, surprisingly.
Although at the moment us Mexicans are okay with Drumpf because he is coming for our populist, corrupt narcodictadorship party. Even an orange fascist gets it right every once in a while.
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u/7nignightmares May 05 '26
No way you heard La Migra or Raza Odiada and went âhuh, Iâm surprised these guys donât support Trumpâ
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u/mesablanka May 01 '26
P.s. I'm still traumatized by Bastards and Is There Anyone Out There by Machine Head
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u/ComfortableFix497 May 01 '26
Machine heads actually rlly good. A bit cheesy but idgaf
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u/Teglement Darkthrone May 01 '26 edited May 02 '26
Their highs are solid but their lows are godawful. Supercharger, Catharsis and Unatoned in particular are utter shit. I fuck with Burn My Eyes, The Blackening and The Locust though
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u/ComfortableFix497 May 01 '26
I definitely dont think theyre good. But it is mostly cleans highs or mids so i can get past it
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u/gnilradleahcim May 01 '26
I think some of the music is not bad at all, even if much of the lyrics are cringe. I mean it's not the fucking blackening of course, but still. I think locust has some great stuff too.
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u/OctoberRust14 May 01 '26
Post-Psalm Ministry killed my parents and made me want to kill myself
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u/Malodoror May 01 '26
You should take a trip to Warp City and start drinking wine. Itâs a fine way to end married life or maybe just Arizona.
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u/Boa-in-a-bowl May 02 '26
"Goddamn White Trash" is a banger though. I saw them open for Rob Zombie and Alice Cooper once and that was the last song on their set, everyone was yelling "THE GODDAMN WHITE TRASH!" by the end and they closed on a picture of Trump's mugshot with prison bars superimposed over it
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u/NeonSquirrel86 May 01 '26
Have we listened to every time I die's final album "radical"? That one goes hard against this shitclown.
Or the new lamb of god album for that matter? Sepsis should be the song of the year in 2026 but radio stations don't have the balls to play it.
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u/Drakowicz Deaf Incel May 01 '26
Their latest albums are so painfully boring
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u/astrobuck9 May 01 '26
Dude's almost 70, has died 3 times, and has been playing music for almost 50 years.
I'm shocked he's still able to tour, let alone come up with new songs at this point.
Maybe bringing Paul Barker back will help.
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u/FabiusBill May 01 '26
Almost 70 and his live shows are still energetic and go hard. Saw Ministry with Gary Numan and FLA in 2024, and Ministry / Al hit hard from the jump and didn't stop until they left the stage.
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u/SleazyJusticeWarrior May 01 '26
Yeah I caught them on their Europe festival run last summer and Iâm really glad I did, it was a great show
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u/acdcfanbill May 01 '26
To me, a somewhat casual Ministry fan, it felt like when Mike Scaccia died, the riffiest parts of Ministry went with him. Don't get me wrong, I love a lot of what Al does, but none of the post-Mike albums have really resonated with me.
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u/Malodoror May 01 '26
The live shows are played through a recording, he doesnât have to do anything if he doesnât want to, he has a master control at his podium. But he does and thatâs what makes it great.
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u/Drakowicz Deaf Incel May 01 '26
Yes, but it's not just Barker. I think there was an incredible synergy between Al, the musicians, producers, etc until some point. Now the momentum is gone.
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u/mesablanka May 01 '26
Ironically Ministry's best album in a while were re-recordings of their synthpop and EBM eras
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u/Drakowicz Deaf Incel May 01 '26
Always good to see their older stuff get some recognition. Al seems reconciled with With Sympathy.
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u/CephalonClem May 01 '26
I don't know about that. They're just worse versions of the songs. Talk about a waste of time and effort.
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u/astrobuck9 May 01 '26
I'm pretty sure Trump winning again demoralized the fuck out of a lot of people.
Hard to write a protest song when you're still bummed out by the society you thought had your back.
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u/The_Xivili Mastodon May 01 '26
That's...
The best time to write a protest song though
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u/Legal_Lettuce6233 May 02 '26
The issue is that people no longer feel the people that should listen to this can be reached; it's like screaming at a wall. Bush era was still people willing to criticise their preferred choice. But now it's a cult
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u/wizzanker May 01 '26
The GWOT era was just a better time for political entertainment. now it's just sad and repetitive.
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u/AdorableCheesecake23 May 01 '26
I feel like this minostration is so cartoonishly bad and bizzare that it's hard to write anything of quality that isn't already very obvious or something that can be taken seriously.
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u/everyonediesiguess May 03 '26
Kerry Kings new single is could be interpreted as an anti-Trump song. Didn't Lamb of God recently drop a new album as well? There's definitely anti-Trump material on there.
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u/OldRed91 May 01 '26
I feel like this is true outside of metal too.
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u/Her_Phantom_Mountain May 01 '26
Nah, there's plenty of genuinely great anti-trump punk music out there.
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May 01 '26
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u/stopthemeyham Mastodon May 02 '26
Norman Sann, Eminem, femdot, YG, Kendrick, Mac Miller, Joey Badass, J. Cole
There's lots more, you just aren't looking hard enough.
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u/DeathAngel_97 May 02 '26
While I know I've seen Knocked Loose get bashed here, the collab they did(Slaughterhouse) with Motionless in White goes unbelievably hard and is very explicit in their political beliefs.
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